On the 10th of March, the Young Bakers welcomed Lydia, the Human Resources Director of W Hotel at Caoyang Vocational School, to lead a practical training session on Curriculum Vitae (CV) writing.
Lydia gave the students training on how to write a CV, the overall process for an interview, and its focus areas. Knowing that the students were just about to start their careers, she shared tips on how to tackle any future roles. Firstly, she begins with an introduction on the steps involved in writing a CV and its important sections like contact details, educational background, work experience and minimum salary expectations. She describes for students, salary expectations in further detail, and suggests that everyone should discuss this face-to-face directly with the interviewer, and from there on, obtain opportunities for further interviews. Lydia also told the students, the typography of their CV is an important factor influencing the potential chance for an interview. A simple, clean CV is the best, but any miniscule mistakes should be best avoided. For example, filling incorrectly your birth date, or the name of your previous (hotel) employer.
From there, Lydia told everyone that the most difficult part is to talk to the interviewer about your past experience. That is because the mere fact that a person has applied for this role means that he/she would have prepared adequately in advance. Lydia says, through the description given by the candidates, the interviewer is able to recognise whether you are a passive person or not or whether your personality is lacking something. A group of students asked Lydia to share her past experience. She listened carefully in detail, and gave lots of suggestions for improvement. Aside from that, she showed everyone the proper process for an interview, and told everyone that to leave a good impression on the interviewer, students should apply light makeup for the interview, smile lightly when conversing, and maintain eye contact with the interviewer etc.
Finally, Lydia sincerely gave four “loyal words of wisdom” relating to entering the workforce for the first time. Firstly, under all circumstances, you must learn to work with teams; second, the more you do, the more you learn, remember that any loss is also an opportunity; thirdly, take more opportunities and try a variety of different roles to find just exactly what interests you; fourthly reconsider all options, before hastily deciding to jump to another role. After training, the students excitedly asked Lydia their burning questions relating to insurance, promotions, and accommodation, which Lydia enthusiastically responded to.
We thank Lydia for taking time out of her weekend to give a meaningful, insightful and influential training session for the Young Bakers. This is also Lydia’s fourth year of supporting Shanghai Young Bakers. We are deeply grateful for her contribution. Soon enough, the students will need to prepare for graduation, learn CV writing, and interviews. These are the most basic skills for entering the workforce. Lydia hopes that everyone will be able to apply what they have learned, to find a role that makes them happy.
